Clip-In Hair: A Must for Every Woman

Even though I no longer live at home, my mother still reprimands me when we're on the phone while I'm getting ready for a big night out. As soon as I put the phone on speaker, implying that my hands are doing serious work (she knows I can do my make-up one handed, driving, etc), all hell breaks loose; Can you take those goddamn things out of your hair? or Jesus Christ, Angela, people are laughing at you, I hope you know! Regardless of her pestering, I will always have those nights when I see one too many photos of Aubrey O'Day and immediately need to change up my shoulder length hair for something much more pageant-ready. So, if you've seen my Facebook and wonder, Wow, the length of her hair just always changes!, yes, I'm coming out. I have been a hair extension addict since the emergence since senior prom when the Paul Mitchell hair school was giving out specials for glue-in synthetic hair (needless to say, it absolutely destroyed my hair and was a bit Lady Godiva-looking as I reflect back on it).

With more time and money, I have graduated onto more quality lines of fake hair and weaves that allow me to play with my look more freely. I wish I could say that this post was out of the requests from others, but really, I just think that every woman out there is curious to flirt with a little bit of false hair and just isn't ballsy enough to ask. After much experimentation and even more mishaps in which I have gone out for the night with my entire track showing (FYI- the piece of fabric that attaches all of the fake here), here is a list I've compiled of some great extension lines, from clip-ins to celebrity quality, that will allow you too to feel like a Real Housewife of Orange County for the night:

• Hair Do: Founded by Kevin Paves and Jessica Simpson (or probably just Kevin Paves), these range from $60 to $500, and are more hair pieces then extensions. They're fun for a night out, but for daily use I feel like I'm putting on a wiglett for the stage. 
• EuroNext: A celebrity on my facebook. My favorite line, which is 100% human hair and clip in extensions that are all priced at $75 a package, which is enough to fit a normal sized head. You can find these at an Ulta or Sally's Beauty Supply, and come in over 25 shades. 
• Great Lengths: A more expensive method, this line has become popular in salons across the country. Ranging at between $800 and $1200 an application, these last for about six months and you won't have to worry about tracks. But be weary; the healthy "protein" bond that attaches the extension to your hair is actually just a bunch of drying chemicals that will make your mane look like Courtney Love's after you take them out.
• Glamour Hair: This is a more ethnic line that caters to thicker, African American hair. It's great for weaves or gluing in tracks. I used Glamour Hair, which is 100% human, when I had a weave put in before a vacation. It looked beautiful but took my hair months to recover from upon removal. Plus, it's priced at about $350 for the hair and application and only lasts for two weeks. 
• The Donosca Method: One of the most luxurious methods brought over from Toni & Guy in Paris, the Donosca method starts at $16o0, uses all human hair from Italy, and uses small tubes to attach the hair to the bonding so that no damage occurs. I don't know much more about this method seeing as it will be at least another ten years in my lifetime before I can even begin to think about affording it. 

A question I get from many hair extension-gentiles: But how can you wear another human's hair? Exercise some intelligent here, people. Obviously Ken paves and Jessica Simpson are not making women in a lab grow their hair 22-inches only to cut it later, nor are any of the other manufacturers. Instead, hair is actually genetically grown in labs, most popularly Iceland and the Balkans (Not a bad fun fact for your next cocktail party, FYI). So, to ease your worries, you're not actually wearing another human's hair.

I will continue to love- no, be OBSESSED with- hair extensions, but more importantly, will continue to love anything that will dramatically change my look, but just for the night, so that the next morning I can wake up and say what a great dream I had the night before when I was a member of Danity Kane...

xx-

Angela